HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i softball team (25-11, WAC 3-0) completed their first Western Athletic Conference series sweep of the season by winning both ends of tonight's doubleheader against San Jose State. UH's Kaia Parnaby and Stephanie Ricketts each earned a win, while Kelly Majam continued her assault on the UH single-season home run record, launching three in today's two games at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

 

Box Score

The Rainbow Wahine opened the doubleheader with a 7-3 win over the Spartans. Freshman pitcher, Kaia Parnaby improved her record to 13-5 overall and 1-0 in conference. She tossed her 13th complete game of the season, giving up three runs on nine hits with no walks and seven strike outs.

 

The Spartans took an early 2-0 lead after posting a pair of runs in the second inning. SJSU got back-to-back doubles to start the inning from Brittany McConnell and Ursula Lopez. Lopez's double drove in McConnell from second. Parnaby settled down to get a strike out and a ground out to second, but followed Julianne Aiello with a single to bring in Lopez for the Spartans' second run.

 

But the 'Bows responded in the bottom half of the frame on a two run, opposite-field home run to rightfield by Kanani Pu'u-Warren. The home run brought in Alex Aguirre who had earlier legged out an infield single. UH finished the inning tied at two runs a piece. It was Pu`u-Warren's fifth home run of the season and first in WAC play.

 

The Spartans then retook the lead on a solo home run to center by Ursula Lopez in the top of the fourth inning.

 

Hawai`i answered right back, notching two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to see-saw back into the lead. Amanda Tauali'i led the inning off with a hard grounder to short for an infield single. Pinch runner Brynne Buchanan then moved to second on an illegal pitch. Later with one out in the inning, Aguirre drew a walk to put runners at first and second. After a foul pop-up, Katie Grimes hit a hard ground ball to short. On the play, the shortstop bobbled the ball for an error then threw late to second. But with two outs, both runners were going at the crack of the bat, allowing Buchanan to score easily and Aguirre sprinted around third to score, catching the Spartans' defense off guard, giving UH a 4-3 lead.

 

In the fifth, UH tacked on one more run in the fifth, on an RBI single to rightfield by designated player Jenna Rodriguez. The hit drove in pinch runner, Tasha Pagdilao, who was running for Melissa Gonzalez, after Gonzalez had reached on a single through the leftside of the infield.

 

Majam then launched her 16th home run of the season—her third into the tennis courts—beyond the right-centerfield fence. It was a two-run bomb that drove in pinch-runner Mikalemi Tagab-Cruz, that pushed UH's lead to 7-3 with an inning to play.

 

The Spartans' starter, Jaclyn Imhoff suffered the loss, dropping her record to 7-5 on the year and 0-1 in WAC play. Jennifer Ames closed the game, throwing the final one-and-a-third innings, giving up two runs on the Majam home run.

 

Box Score

The 'Bows completed the sweep over San Jose State with a 7-1 win that was highlighted by a pair of Majam home runs over the rightfield scoreboard. She alone accounted for five of UH's seven runs. Sophomore pitcher Stephanie Ricketts improved her record to 11-6 overall and 2-0 in the WAC. She took a shut-out through the first six-and-two-thirds innings, before giving up an unearned run in the top of the seventh. Ricketts fired a complete game scattering six hits with two walks and two strike outs.

 

Majam led the third inning off with a solo home run to rightfield to give UH an early 1-0 lead. She struck again in the fifth with her second home run of the game and third of the day with another bomb to deep right that drove in pinch-runner Brynne Buchanan (who was running for Katie Grimes) to push UH's lead to 3-0 after five innings. The home runs  were her 17th and 18th of the season and moved her past former UH All-American Stacey Porter into third place all-time in UH single-season history.

 

Hawai`i erupted for four runs in the sixth to extend their lead to 7-0. Traci Yoshikawa got hit by a pitch to start the inning. After a fly out to right, Grimes got her second hit of the game to put runners at first and second. Majam then collected her third hit of the game, an RBI single to rightfield to drive in Yoshikawa from second. Jessica Iwata, who had her best offensive game as a Rainbow Wahine going 4-for-4 at the plate, then laced a two-run double to the right-centerfield gap that scored Grimes from second and Majam all the way from first. Later, with two outs, Jenna Rodriguez beat out an infield hit to second base that allowed Iwata to cross the plate for Hawai`i's final run of the game.

 

San Jose State kept battling at the plate in the top of the seventh. After a ground-out to short to start the inning, Julianne Aiello got things going with a single to center. A fielding error on Yoshikawa at second put runners at first and second, and after a swinging strike out, Ricketts walked pinch hitter Cheryl Freitas to load the bases. Kelli Fangonilo then got a single to right-centerfield to score Aiello from third for SJSU's first run. But the rally would end on a ground out to short.

 

Amanda Pridmore (11-2, WAC 0-2) took the loss for the Spartans, giving up three runs on six hits with a walk and three strike outs. Ames closed the game, yielding four runs on four hits in UH's final at bat.

For the series, Iwata led UH at the plate, hitting an even .500 (6-for-12) with three doubles and four doubles. Grimes also had a good series, hitting .444 (4-for-9) and Pu`u-Warren, who was 3-for-7 with two runs, two RBI, and a home run. Ricketts was 2-0  with a 0.41 ERA in 17 innings pitched.

The 'Bows now leave the Islands for a tough conference road trip. They will play nine games in seven days with three, three game-series at New Mexico State (Apr. 3-4), Utah State (Apr. 6-7), and Boise State (Apr. 9-10). The 'Bows return home to face Louisiana Tech on April 16-17.